Nurses' Adherence to Patient Safety Principles: A Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Nursing Science
• Patient Safety Research
• Healthcare Quality Improvement

Background:

• Adherence to patient safety principles is crucial for improving healthcare quality and preventing medical errors in nursing practice.
• Understanding factors influencing nurses' adherence is essential for developing effective patient safety strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review international literature on nurses' adherence to patient safety principles.
• To synthesize existing knowledge and explore factors influencing this adherence.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search of empirical articles (2010-2019) in English, Norwegian, and Finnish databases.
• Analysis of findings using Vincent's framework, categorizing influencing factors into patient, healthcare provider, task, work environment, and organization/management domains.
• Synthesis of data from six selected articles focusing on specific nursing interventions.

Main Results:

• Six studies examined adherence in areas like medication management, infection control, and patient monitoring.
• Key influencing factors identified include patient participation, healthcare provider knowledge/attitudes, interprofessional collaboration, adequate resources (equipment, systems), education, feedback, and standardized processes.
• Both individual and systemic factors significantly impact nurses' adherence to patient safety principles.

Conclusions:

• Individual and systemic factors critically influence nurses' adherence to patient safety principles.
• Further research employing mixed methods is needed to deepen understanding and identify effective interventions to improve adherence and patient safety outcomes.